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CLIMATE CHANGE
Obama gives Congress a climate change ultimatum. U.S. President
Barack Obama on Tuesday gave Congress an ultimatum on climate
change: craft a plan to slash greenhouse gas emissions and adapt
to the dangers of a warming world, or the White House will go it
alone. "If Congress won't act soon to protect future generations,
I will," Obama said in his State of the Union address. "I will
direct my Cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take,
now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our
communities for the consequences of climate change, and speed the
transition to more sustainable sources of energy." Posted.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/13/us-obama-speech-climate-idUSBRE91C09T20130213?feedType=RSS
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/13/us-usa-climate-obama-idUSBRE91C11Q20130213
http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2013/02/13/state-of-the-union-climate-change/1916071/
http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/02/12/3171624/obama-to-congress-act-on-climate.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/02/12/promise-on-cap-and-trade-action/
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/feb/12/obama-to-congress-act-on-climate-change-or-i-will/
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2013/02/13/1 BY
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EU Aviation Carbon Emissions to Decline in 2013, New Energy Says.
Greenhouse-gas emissions from flights within Europe will probably
fall this year as airlines renew fleets with fuel-efficient
aircraft and pack planes more tightly, according to Bloomberg New
Energy Finance. Airlines’ carbon dioxide emissions within the
European Union probably fell 2 million metric tons, or 3 percent,
last year to 64 million tons, Itamar Orlandi, a New Energy
analyst in London, said by e-mail. Emissions may decline another
1 million tons this year as high oil prices curb demand, he said.
Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-13/eu-aviation-carbon-emissions-to-decline-in-2013-new-energy-says.html
Learning to fight global warming, one crop at a time. Simple
changes in the use of fertilizers and pest control can help
European farms cut their energy use by 10 to 20 percent and
reduce greenhouse emissions, a study showed. In September 2010,
Fundación Global Nature -- a Spanish group promoting sustainable
development -- launched the AgriClimateChange project. Funded by
the European Commission, the project sought to determine energy
usage and emission levels in more than 130 farms across…Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2013/02/13/9 BY
SUBSCRIPTION ONLY
FUELS
New York Governor Puts Off Decision on Drilling. Gov. Andrew M.
Cuomo is becoming Hamlet on the Shale. On Tuesday, Mr. Cuomo’s
administration again delayed making a decision on whether to
allow hydraulic fracturing, a controversial drilling method used
to extract natural gas from rock formations like the Marcellus
Shale, which extends from the Appalachian Mountains to New York.
Hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, has been under
review by state regulators since before Mr. Cuomo took office in
January 2011. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/nyregion/cuomo-delays-decision-on-gas-drilling-as-health-study-continues.html?ref=earth
Town Sued After Barring Debate on Gas Extraction at Meetings. In
upstate communities large and small, natural gas drilling has
generated talk, heat, acrimony and controversy, from regular
citizens to concerned celebrities like Yoko Ono and Mark Ruffalo.
Now the town of Sanford, N.Y., by the Pennsylvania border, one of
the rare places where officials have actively sought renewed gas
drilling, including the process known as hydraulic fracturing, or
fracking, finds itself in court because it decided that it had
heard just too much. Posted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/nyregion/sanford-ny-is-sued-for-muting-debate-on-hydraulic-fracturing.html?ref=earth&_r=0
Doubts voiced on fracking oversight at California hearing. Some
lawmakers say proposed rules don't go far enough to require
disclosure by oil companies using the extraction method. State
lawmakers voiced doubts Tuesday that the Brown administration's
proposal to regulate hydraulic fracturing is tough enough to
protect public health and safety — and questioned whether the
state's oil regulators could be trusted to enforce it. Posted.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0213-fracking-20130213,0,2014190.story?track=rss
http://www.scpr.org/news/2013/02/12/35925/state-lawmakers-want-tougher-regulations-fracking/
US crude oil supplies rise by 600,000 barrels. The nation's crude
oil supplies rose last week, the government said Wednesday. Crude
supplies increased by 600,000 barrels, or 0.2 percent, to 696
million barrels, which is 9.8 percent above year-ago levels, the
Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its
weekly report. Analysts expected an increase of 2.5 million
barrels for the week ended Feb. 8, according to Platts, the
energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. Posted.
http://www.modbee.com/2013/02/13/2576394/us-crude-oil-supplies-rise-by.html#storylink=misearch
BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY
Sierra Club chief to risk arrest over oil pipeline. Prominent
environmental leaders, including the head of the Sierra Club and
the organizer of a public campaign to oppose the Keystone XL
pipeline, are planning to risk arrest Wednesday at a protest
outside the White House. Executive director Michael Brune would
be the first Sierra Club leader to be arrested in an act of civil
disobedience. Posted.
http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/02/13/3172066/sierra-club-chief-to-risk-arrest.html#storylink=misearch#storylink=cpy
http://grist.org/news/courting-white-house-arrest-over-keystone-xl-rancher-financier-kennedy-sierra-club-head/
Some oil fields fail state's carbon standard. California's oil
fields often generate more carbon emissions than Canada's oil
sands, which environmentalists have dubbed the dirtiest fuel
source on Earth. Older oil fields in the state sometimes require
energy-intensive steam injections to keep yielding crude. Power
plants must generate the steam, issuing more greenhouse gases in
the process. It's enough to cause many oil fields to fail
California's low carbon fuel standard…Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/print/2013/02/13/8 BY
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Sugar, soybeans strive for 816M gallons in renewable fuel
standard. The makeup of advanced biofuels in 2013's federal
renewable fuel standard (RFS) will be an interesting ride to
follow, said an economist, as international policies, federal
subsidies and crop conditions could tip a delicate balance. The
RFS sets annual targets for the United States to make 36 billion
gallons of biofuels by 2022. U.S. EPA announced late last month
that oil refiners must blend 2.75 billion gallons of advanced
biofuels – Posted.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/print/2013/02/13/8 BY
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States can handle hydraulic fracturing oversight on their own –
report. Regulation of hydraulic fracturing ought to remain at the
state level, and any attempts at federal regulation would be
politically motivated with no benefits to the environment,
according to a new report released by the conservative think tank
Hudson Institute. The report targets bills that have been
introduced in Congress that give U.S. EPA greater control over
hydraulic fracturing, a process in which oil and gas companies
blast water, sand and chemicals at shale rock to release oil and
gas. Posted. http://www.eenews.net/energywire/print/2013/02/13/6
BY SUBSCRIPTION ONLY
GREEN ENERGY
Columbia students share solar panels with NY church. Green
technology came up a few times in President Obama’s State of the
Union speech Tuesday — particularly the use of solar and wind
energy. But if the president was looking for a pithy example of
how this kind of technology is being used, practically, he could
have called up Garrett Fitzgerald and Rob van Haaren. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/columbia-students-share-solar-panels-with-ny-church/2013/02/13/8d44085e-7488-11e2-aa12-e6cf1d31106b_story.html
Greentech state of the union boost: Obama proposes using oil and
gas money to fund green energy. President Barack Obama’s state
of the union address focused on innovation, jobs, education,
health-care … and green technology. “Tonight, I propose we use
some of our oil and gas revenues to fund an Energy Security Trust
that will drive new research and technology to shift our cars and
trucks off oil for good,” the president said. Posted.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/greentech-state-of-the-union-boost-obama-proposes-using-oil-and-gas-money-to-fund-green-energy/2013/02/13/e52902c6-7592-11e2-9889-60bfcbb02149_story.html
http://grist.org/politics/from-obamas-speech-four-ambitious-climate-and-energy-proposals/
http://cars21.com/news/view/5226
For renewable energy entrepreneurs and would-be workers, a
'battery university' is on the way in Silicon Valley. As the
demand for electric cars and other renewable technologies grows,
California needs battery experts and entrepreneurs -- and it's
looking to San Jose State University to produce them. A "battery
university" will open this summer in the university's
professional division, teaching the ins and outs of energy
storage. The program will be practical and applied, covering
everything from technical concepts to the financial and policy
issues related to running a renewable energy business. Posted.
http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_22576396/renewable-energy-entrepreneurs-and-would-be-workers-battery?source=rss
USC Breakthrough May Mean Stronger, Faster Batteries.
Fast-charging, high-capacity lithium ion batteries could be
available in two or three years, if a breakthrough made by USC
engineers’ turns out to be commercially viable. An engineering
team at the Viterbi School of Engineering has successfully
replaced the graphite terminals usually used in lithium batteries
with porous silicon nanoparticles, offering the possibility of
recharging appliances from smart phones to electric cars in as
little as ten minutes. Posted.
http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/technology/usc-breakthrough-may-mean-stronger-cheaper-batteries.html
MISCELLANEOUS
NRC could alter rules for San Onofre restart. Federal regulators
Tuesday disclosed they are considering changing requirements set
last year to restart the San Onofre nuclear power plant in
California, another potential hurdle for the company that wants
to return the troubled plant to service. The twin reactors
between Los Angeles and San Diego haven't produced electricity
since January 2012, when a tiny radiation leak led to the
discovery of damage to hundreds of tubes that carry radioactive
water. Posted.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_22577855/nrc-could-alter-rules-san-onofre-restart
OPINIONS
Yes, Obama Can Tackle Climate Change Alone. U.S. President Barack
Obama told the nation that he’s prepared to “act before it’s too
late” and combat climate change through the White House if
Congress is unwilling to lead. Given that lawmakers couldn’t
agree on a landmark cap-and- trade agreement even when Democrats
controlled both the Senate and the House, congressional action
this year is unlikely. The administration should move forward on
its own. Posted.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-13/yes-obama-can-tackle-climate-change-alone.html
Dan Walters: California could see an oil boom. California had one
of the globe's earliest oil industries and was once more than
self-sufficient in gasoline and other petroleum products, but as
demand grew and production waned, we became an importer, mostly
from Alaska and Southeast Asia. New recovery techniques, such as
steam injection and later hydraulic fracturing (fracking), kept
older fields, particularly those in Kern County, in production,
and California is still the nation's No. 3 petroleum producer.
Posted.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/02/13/5186017/dan-walters-california-could-see.html#mi_rss=Dan%20Walters#storylink=cpy
Peer-Reviewed Survey Finds Majority Of Scientists Skeptical Of
Global Warming Crisis. It is becoming clear that not only do many
scientists dispute the asserted global warming crisis, but these
skeptical scientists may indeed form a scientific consensus.
Don’t look now, but maybe a scientific consensus exists
concerning global warming after all. Only 36 percent of
geoscientists and engineers believe that humans are creating a
global warming crisis, according to a survey reported in the
peer-reviewed Organization Studies. Posted.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamestaylor/2013/02/13/peer-reviewed-survey-finds-majority-of-scientists-skeptical-of-global-warming-crisis/
What You Can Do About Climate Change. For those watching and
waiting for President Obama to take action on climate change,
last night’s State of the Union address may have been an
encouraging start. “If Congress won’t act soon to protect future
generations, I will,” the president said. “I will direct my
Cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in
the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the
consequences of climate change, and speed the transition to more
sustainable sources of energy.” Posted.
http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2013/02/13/what-you-can-do-about-climate-change/
BLOGS
California issues prominent in Obama address. President Barack
Obama may not have mentioned California by name in his State of
the Union address Tuesday, but he did touch on several issues of
importance to the state. Energy: In a nod to California's efforts
to improve fuel economy and cut greenhouse gas emissions, Obama
proposed using oil and gas revenues to fund efforts to find
alternatives to fossil fuel-powered automobiles. Posted.
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2013/02/california-issues-prominent-in-obama-address.html#storylink=cpy
Obama Climate Change Poll Finds Majority Supports 'Significant
Steps' To Tackle Problem. A wide majority of Americans support
President Barack Obama's call to take action on climate change,
according to polling released by the League of Conservation
Voters conducted before his State of The Union Address Tuesday.
Sixty-five percent of Americans support "the President taking
significant steps to address climate change now," including 89
percent of Democrats, 62 percent of independents and 38 percent
of Republicans. Posted.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/13/obama-climate-change-poll_n_2677747.html
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